Hi, peeps!
So I was reading the latest issue (September 2012) of Outside Magazine (cuz it’s one of my faves) and I came across a little piece in “Dispatches” about how contributing writer Peter Heller has just published his first novel. (It’s in THIS issue)
I’m a fan of Heller’s nonfiction work, so I was intrigued, especially when I heard that The Dog Stars is a post-apocalyptic novel.
SOURCE: peterheller.net (re-sized here)
And then, lo and behold, he’s been all over NPR the past couple of days. So if you’re not sure you want to purchase this book, or if you’re interested in more about it and in Heller, check these out:
” ‘Dog Stars’ Dwells on the Upside of Apocalypse”
QUOTE:
We’re in the middle of a golden age (if that’s the right term for it) of doomsday narratives. …the world is regularly being smashed by asteroids, ravaged by viruses and overrun by zombies. Pop culture’s embrace of end times has become, if not casual, then matter-of-fact. The apocalypse is a given; get over it already.
Getting over it already is the challenge facing Hig, the narrator of The Dog Stars, Peter Heller’s crackerjack new novel set a decade or so after an epidemic wiped out 99 percent of the U.S. population. With its soulful hero, macabre villains, tender (if thin) love story and action scenes staggered at perfectly spaced intervals, the story unfolds with the vigor of the film it will undoubtedly become. But it also succeeds as a dark, poetic and funny novel in its own right.
SOURCE: Jennifer Reese, “Upside of Apocalypse,” NPR (link above)
Heller was also interviewed at Fresh Air, which aired yesterday in my time zone. There, he talks about growing up in New York with his yearning for the outdoors and exploration, his work in nonfiction and journalism, and then his novel. You can catch that RIGHT HERE, baby. Hit the link for audio and also written highlights of the chat.
I’ll be picking this up soon.
Happy reading, happy writing!
Andi Marquette 